Localized skin diseases

Pigments

An increase in melanin pigmentation may be caused by an increased density of melanocytes, by abnormal packaging of melanin, or by increased melanin production. Pigmented birthmarks usually reflect local increases in melanocyte numbers, but in certain rare congenital pigmentary disorders, such as von Recklinghausen’s neurofibromatosis, there is abnormal packaging of melanin within the melanocytes. Pigment production in the skin is regulated by a pituitary peptide hormone, melanocyte-stimulating hormone, and the increase in melanin pigmentation seen with pituitary tumours may reflect overproduction of this hormone by the pituitary.

Both suntans and postinflammatory pigmentation result from the overproduction of melanin by melanocytes. In suntans melanin overproduction occurs in response to ultraviolet light and protects the skin against sunburn and the carcinogenic actions of ultraviolet rays. Postinflammatory pigmentation follows a number of inflammatory skin disorders, including chronic dermatitis, acne vulgaris, lichen planus, and drug reactions. It is more common in dark-skinned than in fair-skinned persons. In suntans and postinflammatory pigmentation there is usually no increase in the number of melanocytes.

Loss of melanin pigmentation may be caused by the absence of melanocytes, as in vitiligo; reduced or absent synthesis of melanin by melanocytes, as in albinism and phenylketonuria; abnormal packaging of melanin in melanosomes, as in the Chediak-Higashi syndrome; or insufficient transfer of melanosomes to keratinocytes, as in hypopigmentation secondary to atopic dermatitis or psoriasis. Vitiligo is a common disorder of pigmentation that results in the widespread appearance of depigmented patches, notably around the mouth, anogenital area, eyelids, elbows, knees, and backs of the hands, due to an absence of melanocytes in these areas. Vitiligo is usually a slowly progressive disorder that is probably the result of abnormal immunologic reactions against constituents of the body’s own cells (autoimmunity).

Certain chemicals found in plants, the psoralens, if taken orally or applied to the skin enhance the ability of ultraviolet light to induce pigmentation. Although rarely successful, treatment with psoralens and ultraviolet radiation has restored pigmentation. Persons with vitiligo should avoid sunlight, which accentuates the contrast between normal and depigmented skin.

Connective tissues

Collagen is the major structural protein of skin and is responsible for its tensile strength, elasticity, and pliability. It is synthesized in the dermis by fibroblasts. Scarring is caused by excess production of collagen during healing. When the collagenous proliferation is extensive, a hypertrophic scar, called a keloid, results.

There are at least five types of collagen and numerous inherited disorders of collagen synthesis. The best known of the inherited disorders is the Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which includes at least seven varieties of connective tissue defects. Most persons with Ehlers-Danlos syndrome have increased joint mobility and fragile skin, and they bruise easily. Depending on the nature of the defect in collagen synthesis, patients may also have spinal deformities, ocular defects, and ruptures of major blood vessels.

The connective tissue of the skin may rupture after stretching, even in healthy persons, forming purple linear discolorations. Because of the defect in the continuity of the dermal connective tissue, these striae are soft to the touch. Initially livid, after several months the striae become ivory white and firm because of the formation of scar tissue. Rapid growth during adolescence may cause striae to form on the thighs, buttocks, lower trunk, or shoulders. During pregnancy striae form on the abdomen as the elastic tissue stretches and weakens. Striae may also follow treatment with corticosteroid drugs.

The skin connective tissue is affected in a group of inflammatory disorders collectively termed the autoimmune connective tissue diseases. These diseases, which include systemic lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis, polyarteritis nodosa, and systemic sclerosis, are characterized by the involvement of more than one organ or system, the presence in the serum of immunoglobulin autoantibodies that react with human tissue or organ components, and inflammatory damage to blood vessels of the skin and other organs. Systemic sclerosis causes hardening of the skin (scleroderma) due to an increase in the connective tissue of the dermis and marked tethering of the dermal connective tissue to subcutaneous tissues. The process is not confined to the skin, and the cause is not known, although an autoimmune basis is thought to be involved because of the associated immunologic abnormalities. There is evidence that the skin fibroblasts of patients with scleroderma produce more collagen than the fibroblasts of healthy persons. It has also been suggested that the connective tissue changes may be caused by vascular abnormalities. No satisfactory treatment is known, although improvement of the circulation with vasodilating drugs may produce temporary relief.

Blood vessels

Blood circulation in the skin serves both to supply nutrients and as a means of regulating temperature. The structural and functional organization of the skin’s vascular system is complex, and there are major regional variations. Skin blood vessel disorders may arise from an increase in the viscosity of blood contents or from abnormalities of the vessels themselves. Increased viscosity may be due to an overabundance of red blood cells (polycythemia) or an increase in one or more fractions of the protein content of the plasma; hyperglobulinemia is an example of the latter. In functional disorders of the blood vessels, nervous control of the vessels may be disturbed, leading to vascular spasm or dilatation (flushing). In Raynaud’s phenomenon, the vascular spasm is severe, affecting the extremities and leading to attacks of cold, white fingers. Milder degrees of spasm, as well as increases in blood viscosity, may cause a purple discoloration of the skin (cyanosis), which may assume a reticulate pattern (livedo reticularis).

Damage to the vessel walls themselves may perturb skin circulation. Causes include atherosclerosis resulting from age-related degenerative changes, disturbance of lipid (fat) metabolism, and inflammation of the vessel wall. Inflammation is characteristic of the autoimmune connective tissue diseases (see above). When disease of the blood vessels is severe, lack of blood in the affected areas may cause skin ulcers. Chilblains (pernio) occur when the skin is persistently chilled, leading to protracted vessel spasm, cyanosis, coldness, and ultimately ulceration of the affected area.

Hair is of little functional value in humans. Many systemic diseases, however, alter the appearance and growth patterns of hair. In diseases of malnutrition, such as kwashiorkor, the scalp hair becomes reddish brown, sparse, and brittle. Acute protein starvation may lead to the cessation of hair growth and constriction of the hair shafts. Chronic iron deficiency may cause diffuse hair loss (alopecia). Since the continuous hair growth of healthy persons involves the cells of the hair root in exuberant mitotic activity, hair is especially vulnerable to the cytotoxic action of drugs. Acute hair loss is an early side effect of the cytotoxic drugs used in cancer chemotherapy.

Acute diffuse hair loss (telogen effluvium) may also occur after severe fevers and childbirth. It appears to be caused by an abrupt reduction in the proportion of actively growing hairs, and after a few months the hair regrows normally without treatment. The hair follicles may become inflamed, forming small pustules, which, in severe cases, result in bald, scarred areas with destroyed follicles.

Both pattern baldness in men and hirsutism in women are under the control of the steroid sex hormones. Male pattern baldness occurs to some extent in almost all men. It may start any time after puberty and is distinguished from other forms of alopecia by the pattern of frontal and temporal hair recession and thinning over the crown. On the affected areas of the scalp a downy hair called vellus replaces the former long, sturdy, pigmented terminal hair. Almost as common is the reverse process, in which hair that was formerly vellus alters to the long pigmented terminal type and becomes more visible. When this occurs in the areas of the female body sensitive to male sex hormones, and especially when it follows the adult male pattern of hair distribution, it is known as hirsutism. Some affected women have endocrinologic abnormalities, including ovarian cystic disease or overactive adrenal glands, that elevate the levels of androgen (male sex hormones). These women may also have menstrual irregularities or be infertile. Hormonal treatment or, in less extensively hirsute women, electrolytic depilation may be helpful.

Among persons with curly hair, and especially among blacks, cut ends of hair may curve and bury themselves in the skin, causing acute pustular reactions. These ingrowing hairs, or pili incarnati, affect 70 percent of black men who are clean-shaven.

Acne

The hair follicle from which the hair shaft emerges serves as a duct for conducting sebum, the oily product of the sebaceous gland, to the skin surface. The hair follicle and sebaceous gland together form the pilosebaceous unit. Sebum secretion is under hormonal control and increases substantially at puberty, then continues at an increased rate into advanced adult life. An important disease of the pilosebaceous unit is acne vulgaris, which occurs on the face, shoulders, and upper torso of adolescents. The hallmark of acne vulgaris is the comedo, commonly known as the blackhead. The comedo consists of a mixture of keratinous debris and sebum that lodges in the mouth of the pilosebaceous duct. Affected areas of the skin also exhibit inflamed papules, pustules, and cysts. The inflammation is caused by leakage of sebum and keratin debris outside the distended pilosebaceous duct. The bacillus Propionibacterium acnes, which populates the lesions, may also contribute indirectly to the inflammation by metabolizing the sebum to produce irritant fatty acids.

Eruptions can be brought on by contact with dirty oils or tars and halogenated hydrocarbons. Chloracne, caused by exposure to chlorine compounds, may develop in workers involved in the manufacture of cables, insecticides, fungicides, and herbicides. Industrial accidents involving the release of tetrachlorodibenzodioxin vapour have caused severe community outbreaks of chloracne. Acne rosacea, an acne of middle age that exhibits nodular swelling of tissues in the face, is a disease that occurs rarely among blacks.

Most sweat glands in humans are eccrine (i.e., they secrete outwardly) and are under the control of the autonomic nervous system. Eccrine sweat glands are distributed uniformly over the body and function mainly in controlling temperature, although on the hands and feet they assist grip. Inability to secrete adequate sweat (anhidrosis) is usually a congenital abnormality. Hyperhidrosis is the abnormal excessive secretion of sweat, usually on the palms and soles and in the axillae. Emotional stress normally stimulates sweating in these areas, but in hyperhidrosis excessive sweating may follow minor stimuli or no obvious stimulus at all. Hyperhidrosis may be an occupational problem for those who handle books, papers, or metallic objects that can rust.

Most serious disorders of the eccrine sweat glands result from the retention of sweat. Prickly heat (miliaria) occurs in persons living in a hot, humid environment and is due to sweat retention brought on by the combination of increased sweat production and blockage of the duct from hydration of the surrounding horny layer of skin. The gland continues to secrete, and the pressure may rupture the sweat duct at its junction with the epidermis. In heatstroke, another disorder of the eccrine sweat glands, the glands are exhausted and unable to secrete sweat. Hyperpyrexia, an excessive rise in body temperature, may ensue and is sometimes fatal. The most common disorder of the eccrine glands, however, is excessive sweating of the palms, soles, armpits, and face. Emotional stress normally stimulates sweating in these areas, but emotional hyperhidrosis (increased sweating) occurs when excessive sweating follows minor or no obvious stimuli.

Apocrine sweat glands, which are normally limited to the armpits, perineum, and genitalia, differ anatomically and physiologically from eccrine sweat glands. In the apocrine glands the secretions are concentrated at the free end of the cell, which is cast off along with the secretory products. Apocrine secretion is oily, opalescent, and odourless when secreted, but acquires an offensive smell when it mingles with the bacteria of the skin. The actions of deodorants and antiperspirants are based mainly on an antibacterial effect, on mechanical blockade of the apocrine gland pores, or both.

The most common causes of diseased nails are chronic paronychia—infection of the soft tissue of the fingers between the lateral edges of the nail plates and the lateral nail folds—fungus infections, trauma, psoriasis, impaired circulation, and dermatitis. Chronic paronychia is an occupational hazard of dishwashers, bar workers, hairdressers, and vegetable preparers. When the cuticle is lost, water, bacteria, and yeasts seep under the nail fold and cause inflammation. The lateral nail folds extrude beads of pus when they are squeezed. The infection is commonly caused by the yeast Candida albicans, and when this organism is identified, infection elsewhere in the body should be sought.

Like the hair, the nails may be useful indicators of skin diseases and of internal disorders. Psoriasis causes pitting on the surface of the nails and an increase in their growth rate. Lichen planus causes a characteristic scarring of the posterior nail fold, leading to fusion of the posterior nail fold with the nail plate. Club-shaped deformity of the nail plate is associated with chronic chest disease and cyanotic congenital heart disease. A reduction in the rate of nail growth, a yellow discoloration of the nail plate, and a smooth curvature to the nails are all features of the yellow nails syndrome, a rare hereditary condition in which the lymphatic drainage system of the body is defective. In chronic anemia the nail plate may become concave (koilonychia). Transverse depressions of the nail plates called Beau’s lines result from temporary interruption of nail growth and are seen in a number of acute illnesses, including coronary thrombosis, pneumonia, and severe injuries. Various forms of interference with the blood supply may affect the nail matrix and produce irregular growth of the nails. Drug treatment may cause shedding of the nails. Photo-onycholysis—destruction of the nails from exposure to sunlight—occurs in patients taking photosensitizing drugs such as certain broad-spectrum antibiotics.

Metabolic disorders

Metabolic disorders may result in the deposition of excess materials in the dermis and thus cause disease. Uric-acid salts are deposited in gout, calcium salts in calcinosis, lipids in xanthomatosis, an abnormal protein in amyloidosis, mucin in myxedema, and porphyrins in porphyria. The appearances of the skin are usually sufficiently characteristic to be diagnostic.

A metabolic disorder that dramatically affects the skin is porphyria, an enzyme defect that causes hemoglobin precursors, or porphyrins, to accumulate in the skin. Porphyrins are abnormally sensitive to long wavelength ultraviolet light. The accumulation of porphyrins results in severe sun sensitivity, with blistering, increased skin fragility, and scarring on the areas exposed to light. The most common form, porphyria cutanea tarda, is usually caused by a combination of a hereditary enzyme defect and chronic alcoholism.

Aging and the skin

More than one-third of persons over 65 years of age have skin problems. Prevalent in the elderly are such common skin conditions as fungal infections, excessive dryness, various benign tumours, seborrheic dermatitis, seborrheic warts, solar keratoses, and hirsutism. Many age-related skin disorders previously viewed as inevitable accompaniments of advancing age are now known to be remediable.

Skin may age much faster than the rest of the body because of environmental effects, especially sunlight. A fair-skinned woman who habitually sunbathes, for example, may have a senile skin at age 40, whereas her coeval who spends most of her time indoors may not. The predominant features of the aging skin include skin laxity leading to wrinkles, dryness, itching, increased pigmentation, and telangiectasia (i.e., visible dilation of the skin blood vessels). Moles, large seborrheic warts, and small hemangiomas (de Morgan’s spots) are more common among whites, while small black warts (dermatosis papulosa nigra) of the upper chest and face and tiny white spots (idiopathic guttate hypomelanosis) are more common among blacks.

There is no evidence that the rate of reproduction of epidermal cells slows with age. There are, however, marked degenerative changes in the connective tissue, both elastic and collagenous, that cause wrinkling and loss of elasticity. So-called rejuvenating cosmetic skin preparations are ineffective, although simple emollients may provide temporary suppleness. Avoiding excessive exposure to sunlight and using sunblocks, if adopted early in life, should retard the aging process and reduce the incidence of skin cancers. None of these treatments, however, does more than slow the onset of senescence in the skin, and those who survive into the 10th decade of life have age-related changes that are largely independent of their earlier life-styles.